The Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin annual report for 2023 is out and can be viewed online here or by clicking on the photo below.
2023 was even busier than normal for CUB. All five of the major monopoly utilities in Wisconsin sought to increase customers’ bills to the tune of half a billion dollars in 2024 and 2025.
Our regulatory team consisting of Director of Regulatory Affairs Corey Singletary, General Counsel Cara Coburn Faris, Regulatory Strategist Steve Kihm, and Utility Analyst Ted Callon achieved savings of $175 million.
- CUB pushed back against too-high profits that are costing consumers billions every year across the country.
- CUB called for consumer protection against endless profit earnings sharing mechanisms. The protections allow customers to benefit when shareholders do well.
- CUB made the case that residential customers and small businesses have paid more than their fair share! The PSC listened, and seeds of change have been sown.
The PSC moved in the right direction on utility profits by reducing Alliant’s profit rate, or return on equity, from 10.0% to 9.8%, MGE’s from 9.8% to 9.7%, and Xcel from a requested 10.25% to 9.8%. Combined, this reduction will produce savings of $100 million.
Energy burden is a measure of energy poverty by calculating the share of one’s household income that is required to pay home energy bills. In discussing these rate hike proposals, the PSC agreed that affordability is a challenge for utility customers and directed Alliant and MGE utilities to come up with innovative ideas to support customers struggling to make ends meet.
As you view the report be sure to check out our annual “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down” recap of the year’s big cases.
Our three-part webinar series educated residential and small business customers about rising energy costs, the clean energy transition and ways to save on energy bills. We highlighted the new Inflation Reduction Act tax credits already available and rebate programs still to come.
The CUB Prints blog, CUB Tracks podcast, and outreach to media spread the word about these big rate cases resulting in broader participation by the public and a surge in media interest. CUB’s point of view was heard in 108 print, radio and TV news stories.
The utilities never stop trying to get more money out of your pockets. In 2024, We Energies and WPS want to increase rates by more than $800 million in 2025 and 2026. Our regulatory team is currently finding ways to bring that down as much as possible.
CUB’s Board of Directors is seeking nominations for volunteers to serve on the CUB Board. If you are interested, please contact me at content@cubwi.org before Oct 31, 2024.
I invite you to check out the annual report for yourself. And please consider renewing your CUB membership or becoming a member today. Thank you.
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